[Eddy.]

Hey there, I'm a little worried about something and I know you guys are a pretty well informed lot, so I'd liek your advice!

I live with 4 other friends in a student house near our university. Of course, at this time of year we have lots of people visiting the house for viewings, and thats fine and dandy.

However, today at around 5pm, two men claiming to be estate agents visited the house. I wasn't actually in at the time, and have been informed by my housemates who were here of their behaviour, and they all seem a little concerned.

The two men asked the usual estate agent type questions, however, my housemates noticed they seemed to be asking an awful lot of other questions, which seemed inappropriate. They asked things like "How often is someone in the house?", "Is the house ever left empty?", "How often do you leave windows open?", and generally seemed awfully interested in how often we were at home and our general timetable. Along with this, they also asked if they could have a spare key so they could let other people in to look around. My friends also noticed that while one was reasonably well dressed, the other seemed incredibly scruffy. To top if off, they were unable to produce business cards when prompted, claiming the company has recently undergone a brand change and they haven't printed cards with new logos.

Is this normal conduct for a pair of estate agents, or are these guys planning to loot us when we're not around?

Any advice appreciated!!

[jendo]

No offence mate but do you really need to ask? I suggest calling your landlord the police and the A Team.

[Eddy.]

Originally Posted by jendo

No offence mate but do you really need to ask? I suggest calling your landlord the police and the A Team.

Too bad Jack Bauer's not around!

You think it sounds suspicious though? I kno estate agents are evil in general, but these guys seemed a little more evil than usual

[Miss Chief]

Hmm, some mightily dodgy questions about people in the house, but asking for a key???? Concerned? I'd have told them to get on their bike and while doing so state that Dave is just walking the two rottweilers and should be back soon!

[jendo]

Until you can verify if these men were genuine I would not recommend leaving the house empty. Might be best to advertise the fact as well, loud TV, lots of lights etc. For peace of mind speed is the key, the police may already have reports of these men. Most estate agents open sundays, give yours a bell they may know about the visit. Maybe your landlord does too, he could be thinking about selling or changing agents.

[Eddy.]

Originally Posted by jendo

Until you can verify if these men were genuine I would not recommend not leaving the house empty. Might be best to advertise the fact as well, loud TV, lots of lights etc. For peace of mind speed is the key, the police may already have reports of these men. Most estate agents open sundays, give yours a bell they may know about the visit. Maybe your landlord does too, he could be thinking about selling or changing agents.

I was planning to call the estate agents tomorrow in fact. The agents they claimed they work for do exist and operate in this area, so it should be straightforward to find out if the visit was a planned one.

If the estate agents know nothing about it, what should the plan of action be?

The house is never empty in the evening, but it sometimes is during the day.

[wellladida]

Originally Posted by jendo

Until you can verify if these men were genuine I would not recommend not leaving the house empty. Might be best to advertise the fact as well, loud TV, lots of lights etc.

With these "estate agents" possibly knowing when your out maybe hiring a sniper to stay on your roof would be best

[Mr Noble]

Originally Posted by wellladida

With these "estate agents" possibly knowing when your out maybe hiring a sniper to stay on your roof would be best

£15hr and i'll supply the black bag squad

[Buckster]

dodgy to say the least !!

don't go out !

[PJTX100]

I'm an estate agent too, I'd prove it to you but our web site is down at the moment because termites ate the server.

Could you please document here the full address, times the property will be empty, and leave a key in the plantpot outside so I and my assisant knuckles can give the place a good "going over" at our convenience.

[Eddy.]

Originally Posted by PJTX100

I'm an estate agent too, I'd prove it to you but our web site is down at the moment because termites ate the server.

Could you please document here the full address, times the property will be empty, and leave a key in the plantpot outside so I and my assisant knuckles can give the place a good "going over" at our convenience.

[_dark_blu]

As you've already said, definitely get on the phone in the morning to the Estate Agent's they said they were from and check that there was an appointment in their books that corresponds to the date and time they called. Any decent EA will have a record of all visits / appointments and take it from there.

Ever thought about getting / borrowing a dog (pets permitted!).

[JagoPlasma]

id be onto the landlord asap as im sure they would want to know of an impending burglary and they may possibly install an alarm.

If you have anythingof value in the house take it to your parents (but dont get mugged in the process)

did your flatmates let them in?

oh also give your flatmates a slap

[Eddy.]

Originally Posted by JagoPlasma

id be onto the landlord asap as im sure they would want to know of an impending burglary and they may possibly install an alarm.

If you have anythingof value in the house take it to your parents (but dont get mugged in the process)

did your flatmates let them in?

oh also give your flatmates a slap

My housemates let them in because the estate agents themselves called the house about an hour or two before they arrived to inform us that estate agents would be coming around. Thats the main thing to me that suggests they were legit, though it doesn't excuse their highly intrusive questioning.

[Miss Chief]

Originally Posted by Eddy.

My housemates let them in because the estate agents themselves called the house about an hour or two before they arrived to inform us that estate agents would be coming around. Thats the main thing to me that suggests they were legit, though it doesn't excuse their highly intrusive questioning.

Ok, so the big question is, did anyone else come round claiming to be from the estate agents? if so, then these guys were definitely dodgy. If not,, while they asked some plain nosey and possibly strange questions, but they may indeed have been from the Estate Agents.

[JagoPlasma]

ok well if you had a call first from the estate agent then fair do's, as long as they checked it was definately a call from them and your landlord is aware.

funny thing is today we had a similar incident today while i was at work. a guy in an old 97 plate car(Tax expired as we checked DSA website) came round asking to "look at our electrics" app they serviced them a year ago and are back to come do a check on them (coming up to a year living here now)

anyway the wife asked for ID and he couldnt produce so she told him that he aint coming in. He left an a4 bit of paper with a local company on it and their phone number and he wrote "urgent electrical works" on the paper.

anyway passed it onto police who rang a number (prob one on the sheet) who confirmed the names of the guys supposed to be doing checks in the area.

either way if they are legit or not I have told the wife not to let them in at all. but thats exactly what she was going to do anyway so no probs.

oh forgot to add, spoke to the neighbour who said the guy told him he had the wrong address (might have something to do with a bloke answering the door!)